Harry Reid

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any related statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, what is the business of the day?

Mr. REID. Madam President, I am told H.R. 459 is at the desk and due for a second reading.

Mr. REID. Madam President, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to any further proceedings.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I saw it.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I did watch the presentation of my friend and I appreciate his tenacity and his thoroughness.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to H. Con. Res. 147.

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. It is so good to see the Presiding Officer presiding.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. After leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business, with Senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. We are awaiting the House to do something on the cliff, we hope. We have Sandy to deal with, and we are waiting on that. We have a series of executive nominations that we need to clear today.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Madam President, I note the absence of a quorum.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 870, 871, 878, 879, 911, 912, 913, 914, 915, 916, 917, 918, 919, 920, 932, 933, 934, 935, 941, 942, 943, 944, 945, 946, 947, 948, 949, 950, 951, 952, 953, 954, 955, 956, 957, 958, 959, 960, 961, 962, 963, 964, with the following exceptions: Colonel Stephen Rader, Colonel Randall A. Shear, Jr., and Colonel Erik C. Peterson; and all nominations placed on the Secretary's desk in the Air Force, Army, and Navy; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc; the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations; that any related statements be printed in the Record; and that President Obama be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of the following Foreign Service nominations and the Senate proceed to their consideration en bloc: Presidential Nomination 1878, Gary T. Greene; Presidential Nomination 1970, a list beginning with Philip S. Goldberg and ending with Robert W. Weitzel; Presidential Nomination 2028, Michael R. Hardegen; Presidential Nomination 2029, a list beginning with Geoffrey W. Wiggin and ending with Eric A. Wenberg, with the exception of Geoffrey W. Wiggin; Presidential Nomination 2030, a list beginning with Stephen J. Gonyea and ending with Katharine Antonia Weber, with the exception of Scott S. Cameron; Presidential Nomination 2031, a list beginning with Sharon Lee Cromer and ending with Clinton David White, with the exceptions of Sharon Lee Cromer and Maria Rendon Labadan; and Presidential Nomination 2032, a list beginning with Karl Miller Adam and ending with Mark K. Yang, with the exception of Daniel Menco Hirsch; that the nominations be confirmed; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nominations; that any related statements be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 645; that the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nomination; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; and that President Obama be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following committees be discharged from further consideration of the following nominations and the Senate proceed to their consideration en bloc: Commerce Committee, Presidential Nominations 1919, 1774, 1924, 1702, 1925, 1509, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2021, 2045, 2046; Veterans' Affairs Committee and HELP Committee, Presidential Nomination 1948; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Presidential Nomination 1698; Environment and Public Works Committee, Presidential Nominations 1966, 1965, 1964, 1398, 1950; that the nominations be confirmed; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nominations; that any related statements be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to consider the following nominations under the Privileged section of the Executive Calendar: PN 2068, 1566, 1934, 1939, 1945, 1796, 1926, 1927; that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be made in order to the nominations; that any related statements be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 4365 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, first of all, I appreciate everyone, including the Presiding Officers we have had over the last few days, and everyone, especially the staff who have been working so hard. Everyone is just as tired as I am, I am sure. So I appreciate very much the hard work, and I hope tomorrow will go well.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12 p.m. tomorrow, January 2, 2013; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, the Senate proceed to a period of morning business until 1:30 p.m. for debate only with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, following leader remarks, we will be in a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. Mr. President, discussions continue on a plan to protect middle-class families from a tax increase tomorrow. There are a number of issues on which the two sides are still apart, but negotiations are continuing as I speak. We are running out of time. Americans are still threatened with the tax hike in just a few hours. I hope we can keep in mind--and I know we will--that our single most important goal is to protect the middle- class families. Whether or not we reach an agreement in the short time we have left, we will need cooperation on both sides to prevent taxes from going up tomorrow for every family in America. I repeat, there are still some issues we need to resolve before we can bring legislation to the floor. I yield the floor.

Mr. REID

Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the period of morning business for debate only be extended until 1:35 a.m. today, with Senator Harkin being the person who will be speaking. When he finishes his speech, I ask that I then be recognized.